


A2: A Sequel to Allegiances

by Its_Kyla_Not_Kayla



Series: Allegiances [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Clouis, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gore, Louisentine, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Taggs to be added, aw shit here we go again, clouis fam abt to fuck some shit up, louistine - Freeform, mentions of abuse, the kids are all grown up and ready to cause some havoc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21628348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Kyla_Not_Kayla/pseuds/Its_Kyla_Not_Kayla
Summary: Five years have passed since Clementine won her freedom against the plot of the Delta, but trouble always seems to find a way to catch her.Because after all,The war didn't end with the Delta.
Relationships: Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running), Brody/Mitch (Walking Dead: Done Running), Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), to be added
Series: Allegiances [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558792
Comments: 16
Kudos: 52





	1. VvvvV

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my lovelies! It is I, your third favourite writer here with the long and highly-demanded sequel to "Allegiances" that I am releasing today, December first, the 1 year anniversary of my posting of the original fic here on Ao3!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AJ finds something odd while out hunting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: Dream - Imagine Dragons

Sunlight filtered through the multicoloured trees as autumn once again. The bright orange and yellow leaves swirled in the chilled breeze and danced along the walking paths. This was the fifth autumn since AJ had come to Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youths. The time before was not something the boy liked to think of, but occasionally his subconscious would remind him of his days that were numbered. But AJ couldn’t think of any of that right now.

The forest was no place for idle thoughts.

Alvin Junior, now nearly eleven years of age, walked along the trail alone with an aged bow and arrow in hand and Clementine’s hat upon his head.

AJ crept past the trees being careful not to step on any leaves or twigs that may give away his presence. The safezone was far behind him, not that anyone abided by that old border anymore. Louis and Aasim were off in some other direction hunting for some extra trading material. The late afternoon sun began to drift lower in the horizon, signalling the end of their hunt if they wanted to be home before dark. AJ knew he should be heading back to the meeting point, but the fresh tracks he followed promised a find worth a scolding from Clementine.

_Where are you, deer?_

The tracks he stalked moved off the path to a sparse area of the forest. The boy halted still as stone, listening. He didn’t dare blink when movement caught his eye. Not the stumbling gate of a monster, but a smooth, deliberate turn of an animal traipsing along its way. Hiking up the sleeves of his oversized blue hoodie, AJ bit his lip and rubbed his thumb along the rough wire of his bow before slowly nocking an arrow. 

He moved downwind from the deer, moving silently across the terrain as she slowly got closer and closer. The animal had a pristine coat. Unstained by blood or scars from encounters with the undead.

_He must be a fast one._

AJ knew if he missed it was unlikely that he would get the chance for a second shot. 

The sun stung his eyes as he quickly adjusted the brim of his cap and took aim. The stiff wire was difficult to pull back. Part of him wished he could just use his gun, but bullets were getting harder to come by as the years went on.

**_“Just for emergencies.”_ ** Clementine had reminded the boy as he tucked his revolver into his back pocket before setting off with Louis and Aasim.

The deer let out a half-startled grunt as it seemed to sense AJ’s presence, turning swiftly to face him a second before taking off. The deer was fast, but so was AJ. The boy released his arrow which missed its mark of the animal’s neck but lodged in its side, staining its light brown hide with fresh blood as it shrieked and fled.

AJ swore internally as the animal quickly lost him, leaving a trail of crimson drops behind. Now he just had to find it before the monsters did.

His frustration grew thicker with did the foliage as the boy followed the red smears, branches scratching at his face as he raced along. The bushes suddenly broke into a small clearing where AJ finally found his prey. 

The deer lay dying in a patch of grass scattered with wildflowers as if it sought out something peaceful before it’s inevitable end. It’s breathing was rugged and forced, clinging to every bit of life it had. The sight made AJ a little sad, guilty even, knowing he had done this. Killing animals always tugged at his heart a little, but he knew he had to do it so his family could eat.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered as he pulled out his knife, slowly moving towards it to end its misery.

A muffled snarl came from AJ’s left. A walker with a bandanna tied around its mouth wandered into the clearing, paying the boy no mind as it stumbled towards the bigger meal.

“That’s _mine._ ” AJ scowled as he kicked the walker’s knee hard, sending it sprawling to the ground. Without a moment’s hesitation, he jammed his knife into the walker’s skull.

The boy smirked, glad he hadn’t fallen out of practice in the month or so since their last walker sighting. Perhaps it had to do with the explosion, or travellers passing through more frequently, but the monsters have mostly gone away around Ericson’s. Clementine said when they got to the school, things were going to get better. And she was right. Both the human monsters and the monster monsters had gone away.

AJ looked down at the bloodied knife in his grip, and back over at the wounded deer, electing to use his bow instead incase it got feisty. Stepping through the soft grass he aimed another arrow at the deer’s eye before another growl caught his attention. Shifting his aim he sent an arrow flying into the eyesocket of the second walker to approach his catch. By the time he looked back down the deer had died on its own. It’s deep brown eyes now glassy and still.

“At least you don’t come back.” AJ said as he retrieved his arrow.

He gave the second walker a second glance, noticing something familiar. The boy squinted as he ran his hand over the red fabric tied over its jaw. The fabric was cold and wet. Black ink smeared under his touch as he traced the odd symbol painted on.

One long spike on each side with three shorter ones in the middle. Spikes pointed down like teeth. The formation reminded him of this one sassy expression Rosie would make when she wasn’t getting as much attention as she’d like. The teeth were painted on the cloth over the walker’s actual mouth. 

_Is this supposed to stop it from biting people?_

_Doesn’t seem like it would work._

_Why not just kill it?_

The setting sun reminded AJ that he didn’t have time for this, but once the boy’s curiosity was piqued it was hard to ignore. Running back to the first walker, he checked the bandanna again and just as he suspected, there were the teeth, though older and more faded than the second.

_Just like the other one._

_Where they part of the same group?_

_But they look so old and the other pain was new..._

A skeletal hand brutally digging into his shoulder jolted him out of his thought. AJ whipped around just as the walked pinned him to the ground. The boy pushed his arm against the monster’s throat as its jaws snapped just inches from his face. Unlike the others, this one had nothing holding back it’s lethality.

AJ reached for his knife as he felt himself coming closer to being overpowered, just for his fingers to merely graze the handle as it laid out of reach. 

_This is an emergency._

AJ snaked his hand under his back and found the cool metal of his revolver, wedging it out from under him and bringing the barrel to the monster’s temple and pulling the trigger. Blood and brain matter sprayed across the boy’s face and she sounds of the forest were immediately drowned out by an intense ringing in his ears as he threw the walker off of him, taking a moment to lay in the grass and catch his breath. He sat up as the ringing faded, replaced with the scattered chirping of birds and faint moans of what that gunshot just summoned.

Multiple shadows moved among the trees, far too many for one kid to fight. AJ cast a final apologetic glance to the deer he knew he couldn't drag back with him in a timely enough manner to escape the dead, and fled back in the direction he came from.

Anxiety turning to fear as the evening chill settles on his skin and the sunlight spread thin across the land, shadows taking over and hiding all that lurked among the forest. AJ’s heartbeat picked up as he ran. Eventually, the trees turned to all tall dark pillars, indistinguishable in detail. Dodging past one after the other until one dark mass failed to dodge him. 

The impact was solid but softer than a tree, both parties well backwards as AJ quickly brandished his knife.

“Easy there, little dude.” A familiar voice said worriedly.

“L-Louis?” AJ’s iron grip loosened enough for Louis to take the blade from him as the boy heaved, trying to catch his breath.

“I’m here. I gotcha.” Louis put his arm gently on the boy’s should as he pulled him into a hug. 

“Let’s get you home.”

AJ gripped the sleeve of Louis’ worn down coat as he stood. AJ couldn’t believe he still wore that thing, as stained and torn as it had become over the years. Though he supposed Louis hadn’t changed much over the years like some of the others had. His dreads were a bit longer which he mostly tied back in a ponytail, but leaving those same two dreads to hang in his face. He was still easily a head taller than, a fact he periodically reminded her about by resting his elbow on the top of her head.

“Where’s Aasim?” AJ asked as his breathing slowed.

“He’s waiting at the meetup spot, let’s go find him.” He said with a smile.

Leaves crunched under their boots as they found the dirt path once again. With the sky darkening by the minute, they began to head back.

“What the hell were you still doing out here?” Louis asked.

“We’ve been looking for you forever, and then I heard the shot. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to freak out”

“I’m sorry.” the boy said, looking down guiltily.

“I was following a deer. I thought if we could kill it then we’d have food for a few days, or maybe Layla would trade us something cool for it.”

“A deer, huh?” Louis chuckled.

“Now tell me, AJ, how you were planning to drag a whole-ass deer from the middle of nowhere to the meetup point?”

“I thought if I could get it to the path you’d find me and help me carry it.” AJ sighed sadly at the lost catch.

“It’s walker food now though.”

A figure stepped out onto the path a ways in front of them that caused them both to freeze for a moment before letting out a breath at the wave of their friend Aasim.

“Thank god you found him.” Aasim said in a serious yet relieved tone.

“We gotta head back while we still have a little daylight.”

The three of them began to hurry back hoping the walk back would be as uneventful as the walk there.

_“You’re not gonna tell Clem I went off on my own, right?”_

_“I won’t tell if you don’t.”_ Louis knew he’d be in the same amount of trouble as AJ if Clem found out he allowed it.

“Details or not we’re all in deep shit when we get back.” Aasim sighed.

AJ smiled, knowing the lecture he was going to get from ruby when they returned, but that smile quickly faded, knowing he had is own lecture waiting for him from Clementine.

_Maybe the deer wasn’t worth it after all._

  
  
  
  



	2. Not So Out of The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine brings a few of the school members to meet with Layla and her caravan, but suspicious activity in the woods drowns Clementine in a fear she hasn't felt in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: In The Woods Somewhere - Hozier

It had been hours since the sun abandoned them.

Clementine paced back and forth under the silver light of the moon mingling with the fire of the torches. What remained of her half-amputated leg strained against her prosthetic, the pain making her limp more noticeable.

_ Where the fuck are they? _

“They’ll be back anytime now, hun.” Ruby said from a nearby picnic table, cardigan pulled tight around her to fight off the night chill. Her voice was optimistic, but her foot tapped rapidly in worry.

The young woman carefully ran her fingers over the thin braids along the right side of her head, the rest of her hair hanging loose on her left. She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of Louis’ gentle touch after he finally convinced her to let him do her hair.

But pretending he was there only drew attention to the fact that he wasn’t, and neither was AJ. After losing him not once, but twice, Clementine begged that  _ third time’s the charm _ wouldn't mean losing him forever.

_ Calm down you’re overthinking this. _

Louis wouldn’t let anything happen to AJ, and Aasim was probably the smartest one of them all. He knew how to keep them out of danger.

Clementine had run out of things to keep herself busy as the time ticked on, far beyond the point they were supposed to return. The bowls were washed, patrols were done, the watchtower was deemed structurally sound. Nothing left to do but wait as the night grew colder.

“See anything?” She called up to the two standing on the watchtower.

_ “Not much.” _ Violet joked, trying to be lighthearted in the absence of their class-clown. Her vision was mostly gone, completely blind in her right eye, but she still knew a walker when she saw one.

She wore her short icy blonde hair in a half ponytail, keeping the strands out of her peripheral vision. A black patch covered her dead eye, tied in a messy knot behind her head. Tennessee convinced her to let him decorate it, painting the flower she was named after with impressive detail.

“It’s too dark to see very far.” Tennesee pointed out.

“They’ll signal when they’re close.”

Tenn was now about the age Clementine was when she first came to the school. Even though he had essentially grown up, he was still that sweet and artistic boy she had met. The only thing that majorly changed about his personality was he had taken to covering the scars on the side of his head. The navy blue beanie was pulled down over the tops of his ears, obscuring most of the burn marks. Ever since they started interacting with other groups, the people would stare and whisper. The boy found it annoying enough to hide his scars. Violet was pissed enough that she wanted to fight a few of them, and she would have if he hadn’t convinced her to drop it. Though it was not so much as she dropped it as she grumbled along with the boy’s wishes and gave death-glares to anyone whose eyes lingered too long.

A long whistle came from beyond the gate, a sound that started low then quickly swooped high. Both Ruby and Clem bolted from their places towards the gate to see three innocently-smiling faces.

“I can explain-” Louis didn’t get a chance to lead with that explanation before Clementine wrapped her arms tightly around both him and AJ. Aasim smiled and playfully rolled his eyes before wrapping an arm around Ruby and giving them some space, mentally preparing for the lecture he was about to get.

“What the hell took you so long?” She bit back tears of both relief and frustration.

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that.” Louis searched for a way to dig himself out of this hole.

“We were tracking a deer and went a little too far.”

_ “I’m guessing you didn’t find it?” _

“I did.” The boy piped up.

“I shot it but it ran away into a bunch of walkers”

_ “Shit.”  _ Clementine swore.

“We need to be more careful if walkers are starting to group up like that again. That’s how herds form.”

“We should see if there’s anything we can salvage before we head to the meetup point.” Louis decided.

“Bones, antlers, parts of the hide if it isn’t too chewed up. Anything we could trade with.  _ Plus _ if we run into the smelly patrol that ruined our hunt, we could take ‘em out before their gang gets too big.”

“Sounds like a decent plan.” Clem agreed.

“We should leave a little earlier if we’re gonna find that deer.”

As the excitement died down a wave of exhaustion and drowsiness fell over the group and they began heading back to the dormitories. Clementine nodded to Louis and AJ as she turned to follow the Vi and Tenn, only taking a few steps before her legs were lifted out from under her. The young woman let out a gasped yelp as she looked up to see Louis smiling down at her as he carried her bridal style.

“What the hell are you doing?” Clem asked as her cheeks became warm.

“You only limp like that when your leg hurts.” He said plainly as he continued to carry her towards their room with no intention of putting her down until they arrived.

_ “Why are you like this.”  _ She groaned but was unable to stop the curl of her smile

_ “‘Cause I love you.” _ Louis replied with a quick yet exaggerated kiss to her forehead.

\---

The next morning the three of them set out along with Aasim, Mitch, and Brody. Waving goodbye to those who stayed to watch the school and memorizing their requests once they met up with the caravan.

“You think Layla picked up some new weapons this round?” Mitch asked with a devious smile.

“Oh, hush.” Brody scolded him, pulling her braid over her shoulder.

“Don’t you have enough knives?”

“You can  _ never _ have enough knives.” The brunet smiled as he draped his arm around the short girl’s shoulder.

“Meds and ammo are top priority.” Clementine reminded, machete clutched tight in her hand as she kept an eye out for any movement among the trees.

“We need to start saving for winter. Hope you all brushed up on your haggling skills.”

They followed AJ’s lead deep into the woods until they finally came upon the clearing from the night before. The area was surprisingly devoid of walkers. The grasshoppers that fled each of their steps and the buzzing flies were the only things moving in this field.

“There it is.” AJ said with a tinge of disgust at what the animal looked like now. It wasn’t much more than a skeleton. The white of bone was more prominent than even the red of the blood, most of the meat and entrails stripped away making it nearly unrecognizable from the animal he had killed.

“Not quite the feeding frenzy I expected.” Louis joked. 

“They made quick work of this fella.”

Aasim moved in closer to take a look with his by now expert hunter’s eyes. He ran his hand over a few of the ribs, feeling the texture of the bone for any imperfections.

“A few scratches but no breaks or teeth marks.” He confirmed with a mildly impressed expression.

“These will be good material for crafting.”

Clementine knelt carefully in the blood-soaked grass, prodding the carcass with her knife to examine its insides. She scrunched her nose at the vile smell, batting away the swarm of flies to investigate what she suspected from afar.

“Look at this one.” Clem beckoned him to where her blade pointed, using it to push back a piece of meat to fully show the laceration embedded into one of its ribs. It was smooth and deep against the otherwise nearly immaculate bone.

“Does that look like a knife mark to you?”

_ “Could be.” _ Aasim speculated.

“Not sure what anyone would want from a mostly-eaten deer carcass if they weren’t after the same things we are.”

“What if it _ wasn’t _ mostly-eaten when they found it.” Clementine bit her lip at the possibility.

“I mean look at it, does it look like any walker food you’ve ever seen?”

“What are you saying?” Mitch’s eyes narrowed quizzically as he defensively scanned the area around them.

_ “This animal wasn’t mauled, it was dressed.” _

Her words hung heavy in the open clearing. They were used to interacting with others at this point. Layla’s caravan seemed to have new members every time she passed through telling tales of the other communities triumphs and woes alike. Despite all of this, no good soul could erase that happened five years ago, and the wooden replacement for her limb was a constant reminder.

“You think there’s someone sneakin’ around out here?” Brody said with a tone of worry. It was uncommon for her to come to trade meets and Clementine didn’t want something like this to put her off the idea.

“Someone who knows how to move walkers?” Louis added, not helping the red head’s anxiety.

“Let’s take what we came here for and head to the meetup spot” The young woman decided, accepting Louis’ hand to help her off the ground.

“We’re pretty far from the school. Whoever did this may never find us and if they do we’ll handle it.”

_ Something isn’t right here... _

A body crashed loudly through the bushes at the edge of the clearing. The walker snarled through the cloth around its face as it reached for Mitch first. The freckled man smirked as he unsheathed one of his favourites knives from his belt. It had a wide steel blade that was serrated and slightly curved. He took his weapon and effortlessly fell the walker in one quick stab. 

_ “It’s just like the others.” _ AJ said in almost a whisper.

“What?” Clementine turned to see the boy with a puzzled expression across his face.

“I killed two walkers yesterday and they both had  _ that. _ ” 

Clementine could now see what he was talking about. The fabric tied over the walker’s face had a symbol of fangs painted over it. Clementine stared frozen at the symbol, a faint memory tugging at her brain. It sent a chill up her spine as adrenalin began to charge her system. It felt like something her mind wanted desperately to forget, but those fangs sunk in deep until she couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.

_ Get out of my head! _

“What’s wrong?” Louis’ fingers intertwined with her own.

“We need to leave.” She said in a hoarse whisper, barely audible to herself over the sound of her rapidly beating heart.

Louis squeezed her hand and nodded. He knew Clem would explain later, no longer being the type to keep many secrets from him. Some fragments of her memory were best left unspoken, but she could no longer bring herself to straight-up lie. The young woman nodded in agreement and leaned into him slightly as she continued to plead internally to not have a panic attack right there.   
  
“They’re gone.” AJ said as he searched the field.   
“I killed two just like that one but now they’re gone.”   
  
The only walkers among them were the one that mitch had just killed and another one with a bullet hole between its eyes. Dead walkers didn’t just get back up and walk away.

“There’s more of them.” Clementine said as she and the others joined him with weapons drawn. 

Footsteps moved through the trees but in the wrong direction, moving farther away and gaining speed.

_ That isn’t a walker. _

“Hey!” Clementine shouted as she chased down the unknown onlooker, ignoring the shouts from those behind her.

Leaves rained down all around them as Clementine followed the flash of blonde hair that weaved between the trees threatening to outpace her as her prosthetic slowed her down considerably. Clementine called to the girl the whole way, but she was unrelenting in her escape attempt.

_ What had she seen? _

_ What did she know? _

This wasn’t something she could let go. Not with everything she’d built. If her past was sneaking up behind her to slit her throat she wanted to be ready to right back. 

Lady Luck must have had mercy on her at that moment as her target was sent sprawling to the ground with a cry, her ankle catching on a thick root. The girl crawled towards a boulder, whipping around and brandishing a small blade just as Clementine caught up.

“W-Why were you watching us? Who… Who are you?” Clementine choked out her questions as she tried to catch her breath.

The girl glared back through her wild straw-coloured hair with a snarl on her lips. The sight of her closer resembled a wild animal than what appeared to be a teenage girl. 

_ “Get away from me.” _ She hissed, one hand clutching her knife and the other around her ankle.

“Who are you with?” Clementine hesitantly took a few steps forward.

The girl uses the bolder to help her stand and her bared teeth shape into a wicked smile. Clementine continues her failing interrogation but now her hand is slowly drifting to the sheath on the back of her belt. 

_ She looks about ready to slit my throat. _

Clementine pulled her machete out of her sheath as she asked one final question.

_ “What do you know about the fangs?” _

“Clementine!” Louis yelled from somewhere not too far back.

The distraction was just enough for Clem to lose focus when the girl charged with a crazed scream. She slashed at Clem with her knife, only managing a shallow but long gash from her collar bone across her shoulder as she jumped back. The girl didn’t go for a second attack, booking it past her into the forest just as Clementine’s group found her.

“Don't!” She yelled not to the fleeing girl but to her friends as they tried to go after her.

“She’s fucking feral.”

Clementine pressed the collar of her now torn shirt against the stinging cut, the already red fabric staining darker with the droplets of blood that trickled out.

“You got hurt!” AJ exclaimed when he saw her hand tightly pressed to her skin

“I’m okay.” She tried to smile reassuringly, but it quickly fell flat.

“You sure?” Louis moved her hand to take a closer look, huffing at the injury.

Clementine wanted nothing more than to go back to the school. Back to her  _ home _ . But unfortunately, they still had work to do.

_ “Let’s just find the caravan.” _

  
  



	3. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine and crew arrive at the Caravan's camp, but their reunion isn't as sweet as originally hoped.
> 
> Not when something so bitter lurks beyond the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this Chapter: Start Again - One Republic

The fenced-in play area of an old elementary school was brimming with the chatter of a rather large group setting up camp. Faded paint was barely visible on the ground, drawing out hopscotch sets and basketball courts. Rusted poles with off-white boards sticking out of the ground, nets long worn away from the hoops. Guards watched the gate leading to the parking lot while others patrolled the field where horses rested from the long journey.

The sharp sting of the peroxide reminded Clementine of where she was. Lost in her own head for so long, the remainder of the trip was more of a blur. She couldn’t remember the things they talked about on the way, or being escorted to the medical station. 

“It’s shallow, doesn’t need stitches.” The olive-skinned woman said, brushing a lock of her short, sleek black hair behind her ear.

“Just keep it clean and it shouldn’t even scar.”

Scars were never something Clementine ever paid attention to, but some had rather loud memories attached that she tried to ignore. 

She let out a sigh as she shifted on the crate she sat on, nails scratching into the water-stained wood. This woman was a stranger to her. Another new member of Layla’s crew. She acted friendly but there was an air of skepticism around her as if she was evaluating Clementine.

“You the new doctor around here?” Clementine questioned, not seeing the older gentlemen who usually greeted them, eager to help treat any injuries.

“I was... _enrolled in a med school_ _at some point, yes,_ but no.” She chuckled, crow’s feet appearing next to her eyes.

“Doc took Paige inside the second it was secured so she could get some real sleep away from the noise. I swear she’s such a light sleeper a walker could step on a twig a mile away and she would bolt upright.”

“Pretty useful for a traveller.” Clementine commented. She’d met Paige a few times, her and her two younger brothers. Her blond hair and fair skin were quite the contrast with the two younger boys, who were closer to resembling the woman in front of Clem.

“Is she alright?”

The woman paused for a moment, hands hovering over the first-aid kit she had been packing.

_ “She got bit almost a month ago.” _ She said quietly.

“The walker took off a few of her fingers, and Doc had to take off the rest of her hand.”

_ “Shit.” _

“No kidding…” She sighed.

“To make things worse it got infected like a week later. She’ll live but she’s still a little unsteady. Doc feels guilty about it I guess, he cares about her and those boys like his own family. Boss was talkin’ about convincing her and the boys to stay at Alexandria on our next rotation but it’d be hard to get them and Doc to say goodbye.”

Clementine shifted her left leg, her prosthetic feeling like dead weight tied to her body. All this time and she wasn’t quite used to it. There were some days she woke up, pulling back the covers with a shock to realize it was really gone. Even still she had some bad nights spent with her face buried into the crook of Louis’ neck quietly sobbing as he held her, aches and cramps shooting through a part of her that didn’t exist anymore.

**_“CLEMENTIIINNNEEEE!”_** An extremely worried voice rushing towards her made Clem look up just in time to catch the young woman who practically flew into her arms. 

“I missed you so much and Louis told me you were in the med bay and I was so worried and  _ ohmygodareyouokay? _ ” 

_ “Layla please I can’t breathe.” _ Clementine begged her friend to release the crushing grip on her ribcage.

Layla was a young Persian woman about the same age and height as Clementine, but their personalities were quite opposite. If you hung around her for long enough you wouldn’t think the world had ended. She was bright and cheery not out of naivety but perhaps just to spite the horror of everything else. 

“Oh my god yeah I’m so sorry I just wanted to make sure you were okay and  _ ADDIE! _ ” Layla’s curly black ponytail whipped around as she faced the woman.

“You made sure she isn’t dying, right?”

“Relax, boss, it was just a scratch.” Addie replied exhaustedly as she casually put up her arms defensively.

“Yeah but it’s  _ the  _ Clementine! She’s a hero!” 

_ “Please stop calling me that.”  _ Clem sighed. Clementine hardly thought anything she did was heroic. It was just… war. Nothing to be glorified.

“Hun, the Delta  _ fell _ because of you! Maybe not directly… but it was a  _ huge _ blow.” Layla reassured her.

“Either way, you made our jobs a lot easier. Y’know how hard it is to keep up like five trade deals when people try to rob you every other day? You’re late  _ a lot _ .”

“Things seem to be settling down now.” Addie said, stretching back in her chair.

“Saviors are gone. Delta’s gone. The Whisperers are gone. Hell, even the Pack seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. Probably fucked with Hilltop or something and got demolished by the alliance.”

Clementine’s blood ran cold at that last one. She scratched at her hands, trying to pick away the blood that would never truly wash away. 

_ Two wrongs don’t make a right, Lilly. _

_ We were never the good guys. _

**_“The lesser of two evils.”_** Was how that vile woman justified it. How everyone justified it. How Clementine tried to justify it to herself as she stood by, watching the people she tricked suffer her fate over and over. 

_ There was nothing just about any of it. _

“Clem?” Layla’s voice called to her a lot softer and calmer than it had been. Her dark brown eyes seemed to see the storm inside of her.

“Are you alright?”

_ I thought I was. _

“I’m fine.” Clementine hoped to convince her.

“It’s just not a time I like to think about.”

The two of them nodded in understanding. Layla pursed her lips as if thinking of a way to change the subject.

“Clem! C’mon, let’s go get Connor to look at that leg of yours.” Layla said as she grabbed Clementine’s hand, tugging her out of her seat and dragging her into the crowd.

“You better have been keeping up maintenance or you’re in for a lecture.  _ That guy is worse than my old dentist when I forgot to floss. _ ”

\---

Louis and AJ wrapped the jars of preserved fruits in cloths as he placed them in Louis’ duffle bag, keeping in mind not to jostle it too much on the way home. Across the table from him, a brown-haired man with striking green eyes examined each fish a second time before placing them in an ice-filled cooler.

“Thanks, man.” Eric said.

“God, it feels like forever since we were last at Oceanside. It’s hard to get decent amounts of fish anywhere else.”

“We get lots from the river.” AJ stated with a wide grin.

“I help fish all the time!”

“Well, you’re doing us a favour. This is our farthest stop from Oceanside so we don’t get a lot of fish trades around here.” Eric smiled at AJ, leaning on his elbows on the fold-out table.

“You ever seen the ocean?”

“No.” AJ’s eyes filled with wonder and intrigue.

_ “It’s a giant body of water so big you can’t see where it ends. Filled with colourful fish big and small, some friendly and some deadly and so deep, even before the dead, we never figured out what lived at the bottom. For all we know, it could have been some great beast from ancient times, hidden forever from our mortal eyes.” _ Eric dramatized, speaking in a hushed whisper as if sharing the secrets of the universe.

_ “Woah.”  _ AJ whispered back, his eyes as wide as they could possibly be.

“Louis, will we ever get to go to the ocean?”

“Maybe someday, little dude.” Louis pushed the brim of his hat down over his eyes as he turned to leave.

“Wait! One more thing...” Eric stopped them as he dug through his coat pockets.

“Here it is. Think fast, kid.”

Eric tossed a small pouch in the air towards the boy, who barely caught it. He untied the string, pulling out a marble-sized ball wrapped in wax paper.

“What are these?” AJ questioned as he unwrapped the paper, revealing a sticky dark gold ball that smelled sweeter than anything he’d ever eaten.

“Honey candies Raha cooked up a while ago.” He explained.

“Where the hell did you guys get good honey?”

“That shit never goes bad, dude.” Eric cheered.

“As long as it’s sealed right, that is. Hey, no one’s gotten sick yet! They were a hit with the kids at the last few communities. She asked me to give some to AJ since you’d probably be hiding from her again.”

**_“Louis!”_ **

_ Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. _

The bellowing voice of the small woman rang from halfway across the yard. She wore an immaculately white blouse in contrast to her knee-length black skirt, boots, and headscarf. Her brows were knit together in frustration as she approached the freckled man.

“Well if it isn’t the fashion police.” Louis teased, sighing as he knew what he was in for.

_ “That coat of yours looks sadder every time I see it.” _ Raha frowned, the older woman ignoring his comment in her own disappointment. Thumb on her lips, she squinted at him behind the black frames of her glasses, flicking an old piece of tape stuck to one of his sleeves.

“At this point, I might just  _ give _ you a new one for free if you’ll let me put that old one out of its misery.”

Louis rolled his eyes and sent AJ to check on Clem as she dragged him over to her collection of textiles and jewelry. She sifted through neatly sorted boxes until she found the one she was looking for.

“I saved this one just for you!” She said excitedly, holding up the jacket.

It was a deep brown leather jacket lined with creamy white fur. It was waist length, a lot shorter than the one he’d been wearing all this time. But winter was coming, and it  _ did _ look pretty warm, not to mention clean.

_ “Hmm... I don’t know.” _ Louis pretended to closely examine it, rubbing his thumb over the material and deciding to ruffle her feathers a bit more as payback for all of her nagging.

_ “Not sure it really suits my taste.” _

_ “Sorry I don’t have anything as filthy as you prefer.”  _ Raha tsked.

“ _ Ugh! _ Just take it! In return, it’ll give me a little hope I may be able to save you from dressing like the dead.”

Raha threw the coat at him as she defeatedly closed the lid on her box of jackets. Louis could almost see the lightbulb appearing above her head as she gained a sly smirk, pulling out a wooden jewelry box.

“If you can’t find anything here that fits  _ your _ style, perhaps you could find something that fits  _ Clementines? _ ” Raha sang as she showed Louis a selection of rings.

Raha’s collection was nothing narrow. Some were simple and cheaper designs while others would’ve fetched a pretty penny. Silver bands to gold ones all with varying gemstones and settings, all evenly displayed in the box’s green velvet interior. 

“Where the hell do you find this stuff?” Louis gave a slightly nervous laugh.

_ “From a lot of people who weren’t using them anymore.” _

“No thanks.” Louis couldn’t bring himself to take a closer look at any of the shining stones. It was as if his hand preferred to retract farther away from the box, his fingers instead tracing a circle near the collar of his shirt, feeling the band of his mother’s ring that hung from a chain around his neck.

_ I’ve already got one. _

“Oh,  _ c’mon. _ ” She groaned.

“I know a lot of people don’t care about that crap anymore but don’t you think it would be romantic? I mean you two and that kid are already a family, don’t you think it would be a romantic way to show your  _ undying devotion _ .”

_ And people say I’m dramatic. _

“If you’re so much of a love guru then why am  _ I _ the one with the girlfriend.” Louis teased.

_ “I-” _ Raha’s mouth hung open as she tried to think of a retort.

_ “Listen here you little shit.” _

Laughter roared from a few meters away from where Eric had been eavesdropping. Raha immediately followed after him, hurling a string of something in Arabic he couldn’t understand.

The freckled man smiled at the idea. Marry Clementine? He couldn’t picture himself marrying anyone else, but getting married in this world? Would she even want to? 

_ That’s a thought for a different day. _

\---

The young woman sat awkwardly in her seat inside the patchwork thin tent. Its purpose more to offer privacy than protection from the weather. Crates of tools and materials scattered the ground is just enough array to be quickly packed if the situation arose. Clementine pulled the hem of her dark teal jeans over the scarred stump of her left leg, hanging over the empty boot she wore over the wooden prosthetic which sat a few feet away laying on Connor’s work table. She rubbed the skin of her thigh over her pants, never realizing how much the straps dug until she took them off.

“Any malfunctions since the last time I looked at it?” The old Nigerian man stroked his salt and pepper goatee as he surveyed its condition.

“No, it’s been steady” Clementine scratched the dirt around her nails nervously. She hated doctor’s appointments when she was a kid and this was… almost the same thing? Kinda similar? Something about it made her uneasy at least.

“It’s cracked.” Connor stated flatly.

“What?” Clem sat up straight with a jolt. How could she have missed something like that? If it were to break in the wrong situation, that could be  _ it _ . 

“Look.” Connor pointed to around the joint of the ankle. Tiny splinters poked out like lightning bolts from under the screws holding it together. It wasn’t a completely worrying amount of damage, but wear and tear would only make those cracks grow.

“I could fill these with resin now and then have a new one ready for this time next month, or your group could stick around and I could have one ready by tomorrow. Although, one is more pricey than the other.”

Clementine didn’t want to risk her mobility if she didn’t have to.

_ “How much for an express order?” _

“Bones and antlers are very good materials for making strong joints, and rumour has it your boy shot a deer recently.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Plus Layla is very good at finding work for people to do, surely she’d appreciate the help of you or a few of your friends.”

“Clem?” AJ peaked past the tent flap.

“C’mon in, kiddo.” Connor said in a friendly voice.

“You still got those deer bones?”

“Aasim has them.” He said, eyes glued forward as if he was trying not to stare at Clementine’s stump.

She knew he didn’t like being here, in this tent. A lot of guilt clung to him, and Clem feared it always would. She knows he doesn’t regret it, but sometimes the gravity is enough to weigh him down.

**_“I saved you, but at the same time now we’ll always be paying for it.”_ ** Was how he always described it.

**_“It still hurts you. You can’t move like before. And you always worry about your fake leg breaking.”_ **

Clementine gave him a small smile when he did glance her way.

“Let’s go find him.” Clem said, cheerfulness slightly exaggerated as Connor helped reattach the prothetic before slipping her boot back on.

\---

Clementine found Aasim in what appeared to be a mildly heated conversation between himself and Mitch, with Brody looking exasperated as she tried to referee it while Louis seemed to watch in amusement.

_ “It’s a stupid idea.” _

_ “One stupid idea is still one more idea than you have, Aasim.” _

“Oh thank god.” Brody whispered under her breath and Clementine and AJ approached with puzzled faces.   
  


“What the hell are you up to  _ now? _ ” Clementine raised an eyebrow at them, which Louis shrugged off.   
  
“This moron wants to trade the last of the deer skeleton for a goddamn  _ medieval battleaxe _ .” Aasim huffed in disbelief of his own sentence.

_ “...Seriously?” _ Her disbelief mirroring Aasim’s.

“I tried to make him at least pick something more practical.” Brody sighed.

“It sounds stupid but they have a shit ton of badass weapons and they’re not willing to trade most of them!” Mitch pleaded with their leader.

“C’mon Clem, you know it’d be cool.”

Clem stared at the freckled man, his sincerity surprising and unsurprising at the same time, to a very exhausted redhead and finally to Louis, who had been struggling to contain his laughter for a while.

_ “Sorry Mitch, but I need a new leg.” _ Clementine said, crushing Mitch’s dreams.

“Aasim, can you drop off what’s left at Connor’s tent?”

Clementine explained the rest of the deal to them, Louis and AJ agreeing to stay behind while the others brought their haul back to the school. 

As the day dragged on, the rock that had formed in Clementine’s stomach only grew and no amount of manual labour seemed to distract her enough. A chill settled on her skin as the sky began to darken. She needed to talk to Layla. And Louis. 

_ The Pack. _

_ The Delta. _

Saying their names was like poison on her tongue.

_ When will they ever let me go? _

Clementine lost time as she sunk into her own thoughts. She jumped when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, whipping around to see the smiling face of her boyfriend.

“Layla wants to talk to us.” He said as he held out his hand to help her stand and once she reached for it, she didn’t let go as they walked into the school building.

Water-stained papers laid practically cemented to the floor, coloured green and brown not by the gleeful hands of children, but the cruel hands of time and neglect. Lockers caked in chipped blue paint lined each side of the hall, some frozen shut with rust while others hung slightly ajar and some with no doors at all. The contents revealing long-abandoned backpacks of kids who had little time to escape or never made it out at all. The mental image was enough for her to walk a little closer to AJ.

The end of the hallway was heavily sectioned off by neatly stacked piles of desks and chairs from floor to ceiling ensuring nothing got through and if it did, it would certainly cause a scene. 

“Come in.” Layla’s voice called from the last room of the hallway just as they approached.

Layla sat at the teacher’s desk, a detailed map of every community on her route laid before her. She chewed on the end of her pen as she scanned the elegantly written notes jotted around each indicated area. Ink of many colours traced streets and pathways between each plotted point, some older routes more faded than others. As Clementine got closer, she could see a dark spot on the map where something had been crossed out with a black marker, all of the newer routes avoiding this area. Just barely, she could make out the name written next to it.

_ The Kingdom. _

“Thanks for helping out today, guys.” Layla said as she folded up her map, sliding it into an inner pocket of her jacket.

“Every set of hands helps, though I heard it was because of Conner driving a rather hard bargain.”

“We owe you guys a lot.” Louis acknowledged, giving Clem’s hand a squeeze.

“Plus, it’s probably fair payback for all the haggling ‘Sim puts your merchants through.”

_ “Ain’t that the truth.” _ Layla laughed with a snort.

“Anyways, you guys can sleep in room 303. It should be easy to find, since it’s the only room with a number still on it.”

Louis and Aj began to move towards the door, but Lou’s hand ended up pulling on a non-budging Clementine as she decided there was one more thing she needed to discuss.

“Clem?”

_ “What ever happened to The Pack?”  _ Her question came out in a flurry of words and suppressed emotions.

“Addie said they  _ ‘Dropped off the face of the Earth.’ _ but what  _ happened? _ ”

_ “I wish I could tell you.” _ Layla’s face softened.

“I’ve asked around and they just… disappeared. If I were to guess they moved on to another area looking for someplace more divided to pick apart.”

Layla scowled at the grain of the wooden desk as Clementine stood with just as many questions as she started with. So much uncertainty in the situation. How does a group that large and malicious just… vanish? At first, it was a relief, knowing they had nothing to fear in the aftermath of the war. But now it was beyond frustrating. Fang-marked walkers appearing after all these years… It left her with an overwhelming beg of  _ “Why?” _

“Why are you bringing this up now all of a sudden?” The caravan leader asked with a tone of deepening worry.

_ “We’ve been finding  _ **_his_ ** _ walkers.”  _

Clementine watched the colour drain from the young woman’s face. Louis must have seen it too, because he finally spoke up with panic edging into his voice.

“What the hell are you talking about?” His voice begged to be let into the loop.

“What the hell is  _ ‘The Pack?’ _ ”

_ “They’re the reason I was sent to recruit you.” _ Clementine’s voice fell flat, hand letting go of Louis’ as her fingernails dug into her crossed arms. Her heart raced a mile a minute as the realization sunk into everyone in the room.

“A-Are you sure it was  _ them? _ ” Layla got up from her chair, biting her thumb as she began to pace.

“What if it was just some of their walkers that got loose.”

“Dead walkers don’t disappear on their own.” Clementine looked at AJ.

“I saw the symbol.” AJ spoke up, very confused about what was happening.

“Fangs. But the walkers weren’t there anymore when we went back. I know I killed them I aimed for the head.”

AJ bit his lip before taking a deep breath.

“The Delta tried hurt us, and they lost. If these guys want to hurt us, they’ll lose too.” 

A heavy silence fell over them as Layla appeared to fight an internal battle, trying to cling to any reason to deny what was beginning to look obvious.

“I’ll send a patrol out tomorrow.” She decided, facing away from them and looking through the parts in the boarded-up window.

“Get some sleep, we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

Feeling defeated physically and emotionally, Clementine turned to leave, loosely tugging on her boys to follow her to the room Layla had mentioned earlier.

Most of the debris had been piled in one corner of the room to make the tiled floor somehow more comfortable. A light-haired woman handed them a few blankets and pillows from the pile before the three of them picked a spot on the floor amongst the other sleeping people. Clementine elected to wear her prosthetic that night, not feeling anywhere safe enough to take it off. Even with the thick faux-wool blanket beneath them, she felt as if the broken tile sapped whatever bit of warmth she had left in her. She cuddled closer, AJ laying between her and Louis. Her boy wasn’t as small as he used to be, but getting to grow up was something Clem was overjoyed about.

_ Is that something I can still guarantee? _

_ “I love you both.” _ Clementine said in a choked whisper, attempting to make determination replace her overwhelming sense of dread.

“We love you too.” Louis hugged the both of them close, placing a soft kiss on Clem’s forehead and a ruffle of AJ’s hair as the three of them dozed off.


	4. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine used to be glad she wasn't alone anymore.
> 
> Now the feeling of not being alone is troublesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: Every Breathe you Take - Chase Holdfelder

_“All hands on deck!”_ Layla’s usually cheery tone painted with seriousness boomed down the hollow halls as she pounded on each classroom door, waking all of the occupants.

“There’s half a goddamn herd out there!”

Clementine woke with a start, frantic voices and footsteps echoing through the halls. She joined them, unsheathing her machete, racing out of the rusted double doors with the others right on her heels into the bright morning sun. Their ears were assaulted with the gurgling snarls of easily two dozen of the dead as they threw their bodies against the locked and barricaded chainlink gate. Doc and Connor plunged their thin spears through the fence, dropping walkers one by one, splattering his face and clothes with blood and brain matter. Even sol, every second that passed the metal bent inwards a little more, threatening to spill the deadly creatures inside. More members of the caravan ran to help, pushing heavy objects against the failing metal or stabbing the walkers with spears or thin knives.

_This isn’t going to work…_

_There’s too many._

“They’re too condensed!” Clementine grabbed the sleeve of Layla’s leather jacket.

“We can’t take them all like this before they get through.”

“Open the gate.” Louis proposed, Chairles II swung over his shoulder.

“Spread ‘em out, take ‘em one by one.”

Layla nodded, gripping tight to the pastel indigo ribbon tied around her crowbar.

**_“Everybody get back!”_ **She ordered, the others following suit immediately.

Within seconds the old gate broke free from its hinges, any attempted barricades pushed aside as the swarm was among them. Layla brought her crowbar high above her head, bring it down hard on the skull of the nearest walker with a sickening crunch.

AJ joined Raha and a few other archers providing cover for the melee fighters, dropping any that tried to overwhelm them. Louis charged ahead, crushing the skull of a walker that nearly got the drop on Eric with his klutzy sword maneuvers. 

It wasn’t long before the faded asphalt was stained with the lifelessly red blood of the walkers. One that appeared to once be a woman hobbled towards her with a vengeance in her one remaining eye for Clementine having the audacity to survive while she didn't. With one clean swipe that face was robbed of whatever emotion it could still display as Clementine cleaved her head from her shoulders, the skull cracking open on the ground with a splat.

She stands surrounded by the bodies of the dead, face and clothes speckled with blood as she searches for her next target.

_There._

Approaching the archers, a pure white piece of cloth stands out, wrapped around the walker’s upper arm like a bandage. The immaculateness was a stark contrast to the rotted being it was attached to. The only thing that seemed to stain it was its own blood splatter when an arrow pierced its skull.

A snarl in her left ear snapped her back to reality as Clementine reacted just in time to raise her arm to the neck of the walker, its jaws snapping inches from her face. Its rotten hands gripped at her hair and shirt, forcing her to expose her neck as it’s strength began to overcome her. 

A pop echoed through the air as Clementine’s face was sprayed with brain matter, the walker slumping against her. She threw it off, wiping her eyes as she looked to her whoever had saved her.

“Didn’t expect a legend like you to get to easily distracted on the battlefield.” The blonde woman said as she holstered her silenced pistol.

“Paige.” Clem said in slight astonishment as she settled from the adrenaline.

“Yep, most of me, anyways.” She said shrugging her shoulders.

Clem’s eyes wandered to the sling over her shoulder, her left arm hanging in it with the red-tinted gauze that covered the stump where her hand used to be peaking out.

“At least I’m not left-handed. I can still fight and that’s what counts.” Paige spoke again before Clem could mutter any kind of condolences.

“Speaking of fighting, you were pretty decent with that machete up until I had to save your ass. Heh, reminds me of someone I met a _long_ time ago.”

“Who?” Clementine asked, checking the small chips in the edge of her blade before sheathing it.

_“Michonne.”_

“Clementine!” Louis called with a worried voice as he ran over, out of breath from the fight.

“Are you alright?”

Blood spatter joined his freckles as it had spotted over his face, a light scratch below his right eye where he seemed to have also had a close call.

“I’m okay.” She reassured him with a smile, brushing away his dreads to get a better look at that mark.

“Clem!” AJ grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her along, a tinge of fear in his expression.

_“Layla found something in the herd.”_

\---

They found the raven-haired woman staring down at the walker at her feet, tapping her crowbar against her leg as she held it loosely at her side.

_“I should’ve known this would happen eventually.”_ Layla said, knowing the others were feet behind her.

“This one’s a fucking warrior.”

She stomped on the arm of the bandaged walker Clem had seen earlier, the bone cracking under her boot. Black paint smeared the front of the cloth, marking at as indeed a member of The Pack.

“I didn’t want to believe you, Clem.” Layla said in a flat tone.

“But this isn’t an accident. _Wolfgang did this._ And if he’s back, no one is safe.”

Clementine’s blood ran cold, stepping to the side to keep her balance and bumping into Louis. She bit her lip hard to retain her composure as the reality sank in like a knife in her chest.

_The war never ended._

_It’s only just beginning._

“Hey.” Louis said softly as he put his arm around his girlfriend.

“So if Wolfgang is the guy in charge, how do we get him to fuck off?”

_“We don’t. We can’t. Not like this.”_ Layla scrunched her nose as if holding back tears.

“When my patrol came back, they came back alongside these guys. Some of the best fighters I ever knew are _dead_ . All cut to shit. _Na-fa mordeh_ didn’t do that.”

_They were ambushed._

“So what _can_ we do?” Clementine looked into her eyes and saw the reflection of fear of someone who knew exactly what they were up against, but no idea how to proceed.

“His Gravediggers will be here to get the bodies soon so we all need to get out of here. Take the long way around. Don’t stop for anything and make sure you aren’t followed.” Layla pulled a radio, flipping through channels before bringing it to her mouth.

**_“Listen up, pack what you can and be ready to leave in half an hour. Leave behind what you have to. This is an evacuation.”_ **

“Do you think the others made it back okay?” AJ grabbed Clem’s wrist with urgency.

_Oh fuck._

_“You’re friends weren’t with these guys, at least. But you better go home and make sure everyone is safe and sound.”_ Layla gripped her crowbar tighter, looking at it with her brows knitted.

“You might wanna reinstate your ‘Safe Zone’. Put the school on lockdown for the next few months while I try to figure this out with the Alliance. Don’t worry, they won’t ignore this.”

“So we just go home and _hide?_ ” Louis questioned with astonishment.

_“Yes.”_ She asserted.

“You’ve got too much to lose to act any other way.”

_“She’s right.”_ Clementine cut Louis off before he could debate the caravan leader.

“We can’t afford to fuck with them if we don’t have to. If we lay low and let the Alliance deal with this, we won’t die, and _it won’t be the Delta all over again._ ”

_I can’t go back to that life._

_I won’t._

_I’d rather die._

“Can we survive the winter like that?”

_“We don’t have a choice.”_

Clementine’s eyes pleaded with Louis and he quickly conceded. The three of them went to Connor, who held up his end up the deal with a brand new leg for Clementine. Within ten minutes of talking to Layla, they were back on the road.

\---

The three of them moved silently with weapons drawn as they took a route that would add a few extra hours to their trip, but would hopefully allow them to get home unfollowed.

_Hopefully, the others had the same luck._

“I’m sorry…” Louis breathed out as he brushed his hand against Clementine’s with his eyes still on the path ahead.

“I know this is horrible for you, and I didn’t mean to sound like hiding was a stupid idea, It’s just…” 

His voice trailed off, lip pinched under his teeth. He finally turned to look at her.

“The second we started talking about bringing back the safe zone, my mind jumped to how it was when... Marlon was running things.” It was obvious in his eyes that speaking the name of his former best friend opened the wounds in his heart anew.

“It just… feels like history is repeating itself. I thought all that shit was finally over, and now it’s like we’re right back where we started. Fighting and waiting to see who dies next.”

_Isn’t that how things have always been?_

“It’s all I’ve ever known, even before the Delta.” She learned early on to fear the living much more than the dead.

“Crawford. Howe’s. The original New Frontier. The Delta. There’s always a ‘community’ out there that uses their power to get themselves to the top, no matter how many bodies they have to pile under them to get there.

_And they all have one thing in common._

“They all lost.” She pointed out.

“They lost because stepping on people doesn’t work forever. When you run out of people to step on or find someone you _can’t_ step on, that’s when it all starts to crumble.”

The sun abandoned them just as they reached the rusted gates. The school was as dark as the deep woods. Only the faintest whiff of smoke hung in the crisp night air.

“Hey!” Louis called up to the watchtower, seemingly empty with no one to greet them. 

“We’re back, get down here and let us in.”

Clementine wrapped her hand around the bars of the gate, the metal already freezing against her skin. The inside of the courtyard seemed barren of all life. A few cracked bowls littered the picnic tables. The vibrant yellow shards of a broken bowl lay in a mess of spoiled stew coating the rocks below one table.

_Where the hell is everyone?_

“We’re really late.” AJ pointed out.

“Maybe they went looking for us?”

“With no one behind guarding the school? They better not have.” Louis knocked Chairles II against the brick in case Mitch had fallen asleep on watch again.

“Got your key?”

_Fuck._

“I gave it to Aasim before they left.” Clementine sighed.

“Maybe I can pick- _Wait._ ”

She reached her hand through and started fumbling for the padlock, only to be met with the empty latch. A simple flick and the gate swung open, screeching on its hinges.

“They’re fucking with us.” Louis stated flatly.

“Guard saw us coming so they unlocked the gate and hid.”

_“Well, I’m not in the mood for games.”_ Clementine growled as she unsheathed her machete. It took her a second to steady her grip. Clem had a feeling she was going to be paranoid for a long time.

They fanned out to search the yard. The school just seemed… empty. In appearance and in energy. Abandoned. Like everywhere else.

_Where is everybody?_

“Clem!” AJ called, an arrow nocked in his bow as he faced the dormitory building. The door hung slightly ajar, somewhat swaying in the breeze.

“I heard something.”

“This isn’t funny.” Clementine heard her voice echo through the hall.

“Shits going down out there I’m calling a meeting.”

Unsatisfied with the response -or lack thereof- Clementine began to enter the building when her boys appeared at her side.

_“Rule number one.”_ AJ whispered.

_“Never go alone.”_ Louis responded, face serious as the doubt of this being a prank let in all of them.

The air was ice-cold, a chill rolling over Clementine’s skin like a frost. An overwhelming sense of dread leaving her nearly immobile. Her knuckles were white around the worn handle of her machete as she forced each step until she rounded the corner to an unrecognizable hallway.

Metal bars crossed each door frame to frame, screwed deep into the cracked walls, sealing whatever -or whoever- inside without hope of busting through. Black spraypaint tainted each light-coloured door. 

Fangs. 

Fangs bearing down on each room and the peace of those who inhabited the school.

_“What the fuck is going on here…”_ Louis whispered urgently but Clementine couldn’t find the words to respond, frost turning to sheets of ice as she lost the ability to move her limbs, the only motion coming from her being the movement of her eyes darting from door to door and the ever-rapid beating of her heart as it thumped loudly in her ears.

_Not here…_

_There’s no way… not here…_

Clementine’s vision blurred as her head turned to fog. She didn’t feel the blade slip from her grip, but the loud clatter on the floorboards at her feet nearly made her jump out of her skin.

_If he found us…_

_Found_ **_them._ **

“Clem!” AJ yelled as the woman stumbled around to face them through her hazy vision, skin pale as death. 

She took a wheezed breath, shaking like they hadn’t seen in a long time. Her voice was small and quiet, but her simple words imbedded a fear in them that could only be a fraction of that she currently felt.

_“The wolves were here.”_

A single thump came from the door directly to her right.

_Violet’s room._

AJ drew his gun at the unmoving door as they all waited with bated breath. Clementine’s eyes locked on the door handle for any twitch of movement but none came. Honestly, if AJ and Louis hadn’t reacted to it as well she might not have believed it was real. It didn't _seem_ real. None of this did.

“Who’s in there?” AJ asked whoever was on the other side, looking between the door and Clementine.

The only response they received was another heavy thump, the door shaking under the impact. Whatever was behind those bars didn’t leave them to the silence. A gurgling snarl came from behind as something threw its body against the door, the hinges barely hanging on but the bars unflinching.

As if some kind of sickening domino effect each door along the hall responded with the same chorus of groans and knocking until every door shook in its weak wooden frame held back only by the foreign reinforcements.

Walkers. A lot of them. There had to be at least ten in each of the rooms.

_But where is everyone else?_

“Are… Are they in there?” AJ asked as the panic began to show in his voice.

“Is everyone _dead?_ ”

_No…_

_Not again…_

**_Not again..._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: "Na-fa mordeh" is the Farsi word for "Dead One" obviously that's not how it's spelled bc Farsi uses a different alphabet, but that's how it's pronounced. (My beta reader knows Farsi)


	5. Kingdom Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school wasn't so devoid of life after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: Find You - Ruelle

Every bone inside her body was screaming. Between her rapid heartbeat and the ringing in her ears, she had no idea if she was truely screaming out loud as well. Although, her screams could never hope to drown out the angry howls that came from the rooms around her.

Faces flashed through her mind. The faces of her friends, but not at all how she remembered them. Her worst nightmares took hold of their memories and twisted them into rotten, grotesque beings with greyed skin and dead eyes. Clothes soaked through with their own blackened blood and caked with mud. Hair tangled and flesh marred. 

Who laid waiting behind these doors? Were her friends forced to join their ranks? Killed and reborn as mindless drones?

An unsteady hand clasped her shoulder, The freckled face she saw when she turned was pale and fearful, as well as the boy’s who accompanied them.

_ “We need to leave.”  _ Louis said with a darkness in his eyes.

“If they survived, we won’t find them here.”

_ And if they didn't, we will. _

Louis wrapped his arm around Clementine, tugging her away from the vandalized hallway and the unknown of what lurked behind those doors. Each footstep felt heavier than the last. Where would they go now? It was too dangerous to stay. Was there even a place far enough for them to run?

_ Was there ever an escape? _

_ “Goddammit, boy!” _ A deep gravelled voice bellowed across the yard just as the three of them stepped out of the dormitory.

They dove to the ground, rough cement biting into their hands and knees as they ducked behind the brick wall. A silhouette of a tall, thin exited the Admin building.

“How many times I gotta tell ya to keep that damn thing tied up! If I get bit I’m taking you out with me.” An old man with a long dark beard sticking out under the kerchief over his face stomped out of the door and stepped into the moonlight, swinging the heavy door closed behind him, barely caught by the boy who followed him out, the crossbow on his back getting caught as he tried to slip through

“Sorry, sir.” the young teen replied, voice slightly muffled by the matching scarf over his face

“What are we gonna do?” AJ whispered, gun already in hand.

“If they killed our friends, we can’t let them get away.”

“We don’t know if they’re dead.” Louis insisted through gritted teeth.

“Look, there’s three of us, and two of them. Let’s see where they go, and get the jump on them.”

They stayed silent with weapons at the ready,

“Wolf’s gonna make you pay for that one. Hope you’re not too hungry already, I doubt you’ll be getting any supper tomorrow.”

“But  _ you  _ killed it!” The boy’s small outburst earned him a hard slap across his face, sending him into the dirt.

“You’d best remember your place before you end up replacing that thing.”

If the boy mumbled any reply, it was too low for them to hear it.

The bearded man left him sitting in the dirt, lighting a cigarette and heading back inside the Admin building, slamming the door behind him.

The boy sat there for a minute, the pale light casting shadows over his face as his dark hair hung in front of it, making his expression unreadable as his kerchief covered the lower half of his face, the blue of an afternoon sky cut through by the black fangs painted across it. He stared down at his hands, balled into fists as they clutched the dirt below him. As if having some kind of epiphany, the boy suddenly stood up all at once, flinging a handful of dirt scattering across the cobblestone as he pulled his crossbow into his grip.

Clementine quickly darted her head back behind the wall as he turned in their direction. Not daring another peak, Louis nodded to her with weapons in hand, holding their breath as the footsteps grew louder.

The second his boot appeared on Louis’ right, he did not hesitate. Grabbing the crossbow as the bolt fired, sticking into the door. Louis ripped the weapon from his grip, throwing it with a clang against the concrete as he easily overpowered the boy, pinning him to the brick column and twisting his arm behind his back.

“Scream once and it’ll be your last.” Clementine threatened.

“Take him inside.”

They tossed him just inside the doors. Louis and AJ blocked the path down the hall as Clementine closed the door behind them. AJ kept his revolver trained on the boy as Clementine pulled the scarf down around his neck. His face from his lower lip to his chin was warped with scars like something dull and uneven tore its way through his flesh. The kid slid to the floor, defeated, gripping his fingers through his shaggy black hair. She could see his shoulders shake with his uneven breathing as he crossed his arms over them. What Clem originally thought was a red jacket was now apparent to be slathered in walker blood, fresh enough for the pungent smell to sting her nose.

_ Time for some answers. _

“What’s your name?” Clementine asked. A small tug of guilt pulled at her heart for threatening this kid.

“Why? Need something to put on the gravestone?” He sassed her, though his words didn’t have the bite of wholeheartedness. His voice was hallow of hope as if he was just trying to speed through to the end.

“If you’re going to kill me just do it already.”

“We don’t want to hurt you.” She spoke honestly.

“Just tell us what happened here, and we’ll go.”

“What’s it look like?” He raised his voice just enough to trigger a reaction from the trapped walkers as it echoed down the hall, the groans echoing back.

_ “This place is a den now.” _

_ Why would he want to make a stronghold here?  _

_ There’s nothing worth attacking for at least a week’s travel. _

_ Other than us, of course. _

“What happened to the people here?” Louis insisted, gritting his teeth as he tried to cling to his denial.

_ “What did you do to them?” _

“I didn’t do shit.” He said plainly.

“We send the herd in then hang back and let it sort itself out. Pops and I searched this place top to bottom while we stored the Warriors, there’s no one else here. Not alive at least.”

“You just send in walkers and hope for the best?” AJ questioned.

“And why here? What did we do to you?”

The teen’s face fell as he stared down at his own hands, rubbing the callouses on his knuckles.

_ “You didn’t do anything wrong.” _ He admitted.

“That’s not something Wolfgang cares about. If you’ve got something he wants, he’ll take it. He doesn’t give a shit about people’s lives, just how useful they are. You make yourself useful. Stick to what you can do best, and try to stay on top of those at the bottom of the food chain.”

“Why do you help them then?” Clem argued, asking him questions she asked herself a long time ago.

“Why wouldn’t you just run? What’s stopping you?”

“You think I have a  _ choice? _ ” He practically cried.

“They took my family in when I was a little kid. Back when this all started. I don’t remember my mom because they made her a lower rank than my dad so they took her from us and we never saw her again. They took me away too to be kept with the other kids. Fed us their bullshit way of life for years until we got our ranks and put us to work.”

Tears began to cut through the dirt on his face. He looked up at Clementine as she found herself unable to look away. The familiarity of his story was uncanny. Uncanny to a future that almost was.

_ AJ would’ve been just like him. _

She saw herself as the stranger she used to be, but perhaps a few unwritten years later. The unfeeling killer who knew better than to question an order. 

And next to her?

The young boy who never knew anything else. Anything better. Watching the only person he could call family spiral into a darkness she could not be pulled out of, destined to bring him down as well.

“H-He isn’t like what I pictured him to be. I thought… I thought I could fix this.” The teen sobbed at her feet.

“He’s my dad, but I don’t know what he is anymore...”

Clementine stared for a long time, watching the broken boy at her feet. Unable to find any words.

“Clem?” AJ spoke softly with acknowledgement in his eyes as if sharing her thoughts.

“What do we do now?”

“Come on.” Clementine spoke not to the others but to the boy.

“We know someone who can help you disappear.”

He looked up in astonishment at the hand held out to him. He bit his lip, seemingly contemplating his ability to start anew.

“If I get caught they’ll kill me. No questions asked.” He said.

“They might even kill my dad for letting me get away.”

“Does he seem like that’s really your dad anymore?” Clementine asked as she knelt to his level.

“There’s nothing you can do for him.”   
  
_ “I hope you’re right.” _ He said as he took her hand.

Clementine helped him to his feet as she turned to look at Louis who seemed uncertain, but didn’t outright object.

“We have to find the others.” Clementine said determinedly.

“If the school wasn’t safe anymore, where would they go?”

_ “Let’s see…”  _ Louis paced.

“If the herd came in through the south gate then they’d probably had gone north. A few hours from there’s a truck stop just over the bridge along with a few other shops and stuff. I guess that’s what sucks about being in the middle of nowhere. Takes forever to get anywhere.”

_ “Where the hell’d you run off to now, boy?” _ That grizzled voice came from outside.

_ “If you’re in there fuckin’ around with them things I’m gonna feed you to ‘em!” _

_ Time’s running out. _

Clementine pulled them along down the hall to the only unblocked door in the hall.

“Did you put any in the basement?” She whispered.

“No.” He replied.

“It’d be too hard to get them back up the stairs.”

She pulled the door open just enough to fit them through, the old door screeching on its hinges as she pulled it shut behind her. Footsteps thumped across the wooden floor as the angry man searched the corridor.

“Boy if you don’t come out now I will feed you to the fucking wolf!” 

More enraged screaming followed down the hall and Clementine pulled the boy away from the door, carefully navigating the messy basement to the cellar doors, a cold draft of night air hitting her in the face as she carefully opened one of the doors. 

“Let’s go.” She lead.

A gunshot rang through the air as the bullet lodged into the bricks a foot to her right. Clementine didn't stop to look at the man. Instead, her survival instincts kicked into max as she yelled for the others to run. The father screamed the incoherent words of a madman as he fired blind shots at them. The young woman busted through the gate shoulder-first as the four of them fled into the night, the sound of gunshots becoming fainter as they put the school behind them.

\---

Clementine only stopped when her lungs burned and begged for reprieve. Heaving as she leaned against a tree. The sound of rushing water masked their low voices as they drank from the stream. Thankfully, they all got away for now. But their break needed to be brief if they were to begin their journey.

Louis grabbed Clem and AJ and pulled them into a tight hug as they all caught their breath.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been shot at.” Louis laughed.

“I did not miss it.”

Clementine sat on a log to rest her aching leg, AJ joining her as they leaned against each other.

The kid they had saved stood facing the way they’d come, tapping his foot in time with the chirping of the crickets.

“You’re going to be okay.” Clementine reassured him, trying to keep him as hopeful as he could be given the circumstances.

“First we find our friends, then we try to intercept Layla and tell her what happened here. She’s allied with some of the biggest communities in the state. She’ll find you a home away from the war.”

“Then why do you live in a run-down school?” He questioned, biting his thumb as he began to pace with anxiety.

“We live the way we do by choice.” Louis responded.

“We’re a family. And we do whatever it takes to protect each other.”

_ “Even fight a war?” _

“Been there, done that, won.” Louis joked.

“You just gotta decide what’s really worth fighting for. Something  _ you _ want to fight for, not what someone  _ tells you _ to fight for.”

The teen reached behind his neck, tugging at the knot in the fabric that hung around it. He held the kerchief in front of him, staring down into the fangs that bit down into his flesh for as long as he could remember. He started until he could no longer bear the sight, crumpling it up and throwing it into the stream, watching it float away in the fast current.

_ “Eli.” _ The boy said plainly.

“What?”

_ “My name is Eli.” _

  
  



	6. Search for Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine finds herself reintroduced to the horrors of the world outside her secluded home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: The Dark - Beth Crowley

The smell of pine sap permeated the air as the fallen green needles crunched under her boots. The hardness of the ground below her was the only real indication that this was a paved road as leaves and branches masked the abandoned route. White clouds formed in front of their faces with every exhale as the chilly morning air clung to their skin. The clouds above their heads danced with the strong winds as they darkened with every passing hour.

_ I hope we find the others before that storm hits. _

Eli followed along in silence, hands jammed into his pockets and seemingly locked inside his own thoughts. Clementine walked behind him, not willing to let him out of her sight just yet. She wanted to trust him, she really did, but caution was required with someone unknown and unpredictable. 

Clementine had decided that she would do what she could to help the boy, but if he tried to throw it back at her, she  _ wouldn’t _ hesitate.

Louis led the way with AJ at his side. The two of them talked in hushed voices that couldn’t reach her ears, but AJ was smiling, so she wasn’t worried.

Eventually, the trees grew sparse as they approached a hint of urbanization in the seemingly endless forest. At least in the forest, you could pretend all was right with the world. Untouched wilderness remaining uninterrupted by humanity. But approaching something like this, shells of burnt-out cars overtaken by vines scattered and crashed along the cracked pavement. The faded yellow lines that once divided the lanes became ignored as this flurry of people rushed to get away from the first of the walkers. The cars sat rusted and charred, crushed together in nearly unrecognizably twisted clusters.

The four of them walked past the automotive graveyard, ignoring the unmoving jaws of the scorched skeletal figures slumped in the seats. Their remains fused to the very material. 

A small, high-pitched gurgle was barely audible from one of the cars. It was a minivan. Red paint chipped and melted in the front half leaving the back to be weathered down but more or less intact. Another wheeze came out of the heat-shattered window.

The four of them stopped as the shuffling of the agitated walker became more apparent. Louis and Clem looked at each other as they gauged the possible threat.

Louis stepped forward silently, reaching his bat out in front of him as he tapped the metal under the opening. 

A small, bony hand gripped the edge on the window frame, unconcerned about the glass shards digging into its skin. The face of a child appeared over the frame, half of her face burned to a crisp with an empty eye socket. The other side that still had some remnants of functional flesh was twisted into a dark scowl. Locks of thin and matted hair hung from a ponytail still tied in a bow with a stained yellow ribbon. The little girl lunged out of the window, the glass tearing into her yellow dress staining it with her nearly black blood and holding her in place.

Clementine stared at her with eyes filled with shock. 

_ Why did it have to be a kid? _

Even now in her 20’s, seeing a child as one of  _ them _ made her think of how close she came to being just like that. She would have been dead in a week if Lee had never found her. Dead, and turned. Without ever knowing what was happening around her. Just like this little girl. 

Maybe that’s why the kids always made her hesitate. Killing an adult walker was more dangerous and more difficult, but she would never stop for even a second. But a kid? Looking into their blank eyes triggered a flash of all of the kids she knew to appear with those eyes in place. 

Looking at this little girl’s white, unfocused eye made her think of every kid she watched die.

She could feel Louis’ sympathetic gaze on her. Clementine forced herself to find more interest in the mud on her boots than the dead child and shook her head. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Louis’ boots walk towards the van as the growls intensified. There was the  _ shing _ of a knife and then silence. One final thump and it was all over. When Clementine looked back up it scene was as empty as it had been when they arrived, save for a piece of torn yellow fabric stuck to the broken glass.

_ She can rest now. _

_ You didn’t know her.  _

_ Just don’t think about it. _

“Let’s keep moving.” Clem said plainly as she took the lead.

\---

The rushing rapids of the river could be heard from quite a ways away even over the whistling of the winds. The road approaching the substantially large steel bridge became even more clustered with abandoned vehicles lost to nature. 

The fence separating the solid ground from the cliff’s edge was nearly non-existent at this point, leaving little to prevent someone from talking the steep and long plunge should they get too close.

The bridge seemed like it was the site of another panicked tragedy that was never resolved. The lone trailer of a transport truck laid perpendicular to the road, sitting on top cars it must have rolled onto.

“How do we get through?” AJ asked as they surveyed the trailer caught in both sides of the bridge’s supports. 

Clementine walked to the edge and peered around. Looking down, barely visible in the water was the cab of the truck.

_ We go this way and we’ll end up down there with the driver. _

“If the others made it around this thing then we’ll find a way too.” Louis said confidently as he looked around for a way across.

_ “What if we don’t.” _ Eli spoke for the first time in hours. 

“What if we don’t find a way through? What does that mean?”

“It means they didn’t go this way and we have to look somewhere else.” Clementine responded, looking him dead in the eyes. She refused to consider the alternative. 

A burst of thunder echoed in the distance. A warning of what was to come.

“We won’t be able to track them well in the rain so let’s hurry up and look around.” She walked past both Eli and AJ.

Louis sat crouched next to one of the crushed cars, rubbing something between his fingertips.

“What did you find?” She asked as she crouched next to him. 

_ “Blood.” _ Louis’ fingers were covered in the sticky red substance.

_ “Living blood.” _

Louis pointed ahead to the area underneath the trailer. It was a gap a few feet wide and tall that was a straight shot to the other side where it was boosted up by the car. A small yet sharp piece of metal stuck out from the side, covered in red that dripped to the road below.

“It’s still a little wet, so it’s not old. And it’s too light to be a walker’s blood.” Louis reasoned as the light from the other side of the bridge became a small beacon of hope as he rambled on.

“The spike is easy to see normally, but if someone was in a hurry, if multiple people tried to get through at once, or if  _ someone couldn’t see very well _ , they could easily get cut.”

“You think this is where they got through?”

_ “I know it.” _

From what she could see, the other side of the bridge was clear. A few dead walkers littered the road as well as…

_ Shit. _

A mess of orange hair whipped around in the wind, the body it was attached to limp as the walkers.

No.

_ She’s too tall. _

_ It’s not Ruby. _

“Something happened over there.” Louis said.

“Let’s check it out.”

“I’ll go first.” A voice came from behind them. 

Eli stood with a determined look in his eyes, and a hunting knife in his hand.

“I’ll look for walkers or signs of people being through here.” His determination faltered and revealed a tone of desperation in his voice.

“I can help.”

_ What is he trying to prove? _

“Fine” Clementine relented.   
“I’ll go second, then AJ, then Louis.”   
  
Clementine stumbled onto her hands and knees as she crawled under the metal trailer, keeping in mind the sharp debris around her.   
  
_ This thing’s been solid for over a decade, what are the odds it falls now? _

Her thoughts were halted by the boy frozen in place in front of her. Clem was about to ask what the matter was when she heard something unexpected answer her.

A horse whinnied from somewhere near the end of the bridge accompanied by the muted arguing of two men.

“What’s the holdup?” Louis asked from the other side.

_ “Gravediggers.” _ Eli growled.

Clementine squeezed in beside Eli to get a better look. Two men wrapped in fang-marked cloaks pulled a horse-drawn cart. The first man made a beeline to the dead woman, holding the sides of her head in his hands and bowing his head.

“She gonna come back?” The second man asked as he grabbed one of the walkers and threw its body into the cart.

_ “No.” _ He replied.

_ “Somebody put a bullet in her head.” _

“Let’s just get her home and get her in the pit.” The second man said as he came to console the other.

“Word is the boss had his eye on her. She’s better off this way.”

_ “That don’t make this right.” _ His voice broke as he scooped her up in his arms.

_ “I’m sorry, Charlotte.” _

The man placed her into the back of the cart gently as the other threw in the last walker. Just as quickly as they arrived they pulled the horse alone a side trail and disappeared into the trees.

They waited several minutes under that trailer to make sure the men would not return. When they determined that they had truly left, the four of them crawled out to survey what remained of the battle scene.

“What the hell was that about?” Louis asked, breaking the silence.

“Scouts don’t usually go alone with just walkers. She probably had a partner that booked it and left her to die.” Eli explained with a dark expression.

“Gravediggers pick up the bodies. Human or Walker. You’re worth the same to Wolfgang.”

\---

They walked for a few miles along the road as the trees faded into abandoned fields which opened up for the outlines of a few buildings to appear in the distance. Thunder continued to periodically boom across the sky, getting closer and closer as the clouds threatened to unleash the storm upon them.

A truck stop sat next to a few large retail buildings. As soon as their shoes hit the parking lot they realized they weren’t the only ones headed to the old Save-Lots.

A sizable herd had converged in the wide-open area. The sounds of nearly a hundred of the dead drowned out anything else as they wandered aimlessly.

_ So much for this place. _

“I don’t think they’re here.” AJ said as he held his binoculars up to his eyes.

“Theres  _ so many. _ ”

“Do they look like they’re trying to get inside?” Clementine asked.

_ Who knows how long they’ve been here. _

_ Could’ve been days, could’ve been hours. _

_ We can’t give up on this place yet. _

“The front doors are all boarded up. There’s a few standing close to it but they’re not hitting it.”

“Whether they’re here or not we gotta find a place to hide before those clouds break and we get drenched.” Louis pointed out. As if on cue, the sky lit up with a flash of lightning followed by the crash of thunder.

“No time to backtrack. We gotta go through them or around them.”

AJ handed Clementine the binoculars. Looking through, walkers surrounded nearly every building. Though thinly spread, there was no getting in anywhere without being seen.

“Looks like there’s less around that smaller building past the Save-Lots. If we have to hold up here tonight it should be easier to clear and less likely to be noticed.” Clementine pointed out.

_ “Now for the gross part.” _

\---

Slicing her machete down the abdomen of the fallen walker released a burst of foul air around them that made her stomach turn. Clementine bit her lip as she stuck her hands into the gorey mess, trying not to breathe as she stained her red shirt darker.

_ I liked this one, too. _

Louis gagged and spit off to the side as he made sure AJ was good and covered. Eli didn’t hesitate to join in, smearing his face first before his clothes. He’d probably done this more often than any of them, being covered in guts to move walkers from place to place.

“Alright.” Louis said as they all donned their camouflage.

“This is where we’re starting. We all know where we’re going. Don’t clump together but don't spread too far apart. Got it?”

“See you on the other side.” Clementine squeezed Louis’ hand and nodded to the boys.

\---

There was something surreal about walking through a herd. Being surrounded by the creatures that had hunted her for most of her life yet being utterly ignored. Walking as one of them, but the only one with a purpose in mind. The only one who knew where she was going. It made part of her wonder what drove them. What  _ could  _ they feel if anything at all? 

Was it a hunger? 

A rage?

What force made them walk one way while she walked the other?

Once the years numbed the horror into normality it sparked a morbid curiosity. Sadly, she knew she would never have the answers to any of her questions.

Where did they come from? And why? What made them tick? How did they manage to bring the entire world to its knees?

_ Now’s not the time for idle thoughts. _

A cold droplet landed on the tip of her nose as Clementine gazed up at the foreboding dark clouds over her head. A second droplet hit her cheek and rolled down her face as more followed. The rain began to fall quickly as it soaked everything around her.

Clementine looked around her frantically for any quick way out of the herd, but everywhere she looked the dead swarmed. She wasn’t even sure what way she had came from anymore. Desperate but trying to maintain her composure, she pushed through the walkers wherever she could, trying not to attract too much attention while also getting the hell out of there.

There was nothing. No one. She resisted the urge to call out to the others. How far had she been separated? 

_ So much for sticking close… _

She didn’t have time to worry no matter how much her heart wanted to. Her time was limited as the dribble slowly began to turn to a downpour. A red puddle formed underneath her as her camouflage began to wash away. 

She bit her lip and forced her breath to remain steady.

_ They’ll notice me soon. _

_ Find a way out, Clementine. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt grip of a hand on her shoulder.


	7. Safety Out-Numbered Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There herd was populated by more than just the dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme for this chapter: Home - Machine Gun Kenny, X Ambassadors, Bebe Rexha

Clementine’s hand found the handle of her machete only for her wrist to be seized by another. Cold fingers gripped her skin as she felt the presence lean in from behind her.

_“Shh.”_ A gravelly voice whispered in her ear.

The hand pulled on the fabric of her shirt trying to turn She obliged, turning to see a person the same height as her. Under the smears of guts and gore, he wore a military green raincoat with the hood pulled up, but through the shadows, she could make out the toothy grin of someone she had never been so happy to see.

_‘Willy?’_ She mouthed to him with a smile as he reached out his hand to her quickly yet carefully, urging her to take it.

Taking one last look around, she took his hand as she followed him through the herd. Wiping the mix of rainwater and walker blood dripping into her eyes as she followed his careful movements turning into a near sprint as they escaped. Clementine followed around a sharp corner, smacking right into Louis and stumbling backwards.

He caught her before she fell, saving her from stumbling right back into the herd’s view. The young woman barely had time to regain her footing and smile up at him before something else threatened to knock her off her feet.

“Clem!” AJ said as he hugged her tight.

“We found them!”

“Nice of you finally show up at our little party.” Willy joked as he opened a cellar door off the side of the building, moving the squeaky hinges slowly as to not alert the dead.

_“Fashionably late as usual.”_ Louis whispered back.

“Good thing I actually found you guys. Maybe Brody won’t be as pissed about me sneaking off.” WiIly looked back up and his face dropped.

_“Who the hell are you?!”_

Clementine whipped around to see Eli winded as he caught up. He looked back at Willy quizzically.

“Eli.” He waved awkwardly.

_“Long story, let’s just get inside.”_

\---

“Hey guys, look what I found!” Willy’s voice grew to its usual excessive volume as he grinned ear to ear after the door was latched shut.

As they descended into the dim lighting of the windowless storm shelter, Clem breathed the hot musty air into her lungs. The space was lit with the unsteady light of lanterns whose batteries strained to keep going along with a few flickering candles. 

The stunned faces of her friends greeted her as Clementine stepped out of the shadows with the others in tow.

_“Is that them?”_ A frantic voice broke the silence from a cot near the far wall.

Violet’s good eye squinted in the faint light as an exasperated redhead nearly had to pin her down as she untied a darkly stained cloth from her left shoulder.

“ _Please_ sit still, Vi.” Ruby quietly begged.

“Are y’all hurt?”

The smile on her face told them she was happy for their safe return, but the weariness in her eyes said she was nearly at her wit’s end.

“We’re okay.” Clementine smiled as she let out a sigh that felt like a breath she had been holding since they arrived at the empty school.

Hearing Clementine’s voice was enough for Ruby’s efforts to calm the blonde woman to be in vain as she tore away from Ruby’s grip to hug her best friend tight. 

Clementine could smell a tinge of blood as she hugged back tightly. When she finally pulled away, she saw the rip in the stained blue fabric of her shirt, revealing a nasty jagged wound in her flesh held together by small, even stitches. Fresh blood still slowly oozed out of it from her sudden movements.

“Glad you’re not dead.” Was all the injured girl could say before she stumbled back a few feet where Ruby caught her shoulder.

“She lost quite a bit of blood on the way here so she’s a little out of it.” Ruby said as she guided Vi back to the bed.

“I patched her up best I could but my medicine bag is back at the school so we’ve just been makin’ do with that we could scavenge out of here when the walkers showed up.”

“Some old uniform shirts, a few bottles of water I snagged on the way out of the school, and a mostly-looted first aid kit.” Aasim said dissatisfied.

“We also found a few cans of food but it won’t last long.”

_Guess this place isn’t even a temporary shelter._

“We wanted to look for you guys but we couldn’t get around the walkers.” He continued.

“This is pretty much the only place we’ve had to rest for long.”

The school was marked so there was no going back yet, and probably not for a while. They could wait until the herd moves on to search the buildings but who knows how long that would take. The occasional boom of thunder along with the constant rapid pittering of the raindrops against the rusted door reminded her that there would be no way for them to camouflage as long as the rain poured.

_Looks like we’ll be fighting our way out of here._

_“Who the hell is that?”_ Mitch stepped forward when he noticed the stranger half-hiding behind Louis.

“I-I’m Eli.” He looked at the floor, knuckles white as he gripped his sleeves with nervousness.

“Hey, It’s alright.” Clementine calmed them, passing the boy a small smile.

“We saved him from the people that invaded the school. He knows stuff about them he can help us avoid them.”

“Does he know why they’re after us?” Aasim questioned, biting his lip.

“We barely got out of there in one piece, and then those assholes jumped us on the bridge.”

Eli only seemed to sink deeper into himself as he tried to pick his words carefully. With all eyes on the new kid, AJ stepped up right next to him.

“It’s okay.” He said with a smile.

“We know you’re not bad, so they will too.”

Eli smiled and shakily relayed what little he knew. The school’s transformation and why he was there. It wasn’t any more than what he had told them before, but it was clear that was all he knew as well.

“I just do what I’m told.” He said.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. No one ever tells me the ‘why’ just the ‘what’.”

“You sure about this?” Brody said in a barely audible voice.

Clementine nodded in response. There was no way she could leave this kid to try to make it on his own.

“You guys got to the school?” Omar questioned.

“It must’ve been overrun. The herd came at us from all different directions just as Mitch, Brody, and Aasim got back.”

Louis paced with his brow furrowed in anger. The sights they saw of what they’d done to their home after forcing them out had to frustrate him beyond belief.

“These assholes decided to do some renovations.” He let out a short disheartened laugh.

“All the dorms were barred up and filled with walkers. Probably more in the other buildings too, but we got spotted before we saw anything else.”

His words hung in the air as a hopeless silence filled the dark dingy basement. No home, few supplies, and a herd of the dead prowling the area above them. But they were _alive._ That’s a better outcome than a lot of the other scenarios Clementine had been through on the road. 

Even though no one spoke it was clear that the same thought danced through each of their heads:

**_“What do we do now?”_ **

“Even if we can’t stay here for very long, these buildings might be our only shot to get supplies for miles.” Clementine paced as she planned.

“If the buildings are at least half-decently secured from the outside the herd shouldn’t have wandered in unprovoked. There's a few different buildings around here. Something’s gotta be left.”

“It’s risky…” Aasim pointed out.

“Who knows what’s locked in there.”

_“Everything we do is risky.”_

_“Fair.”_

“Let’s wait and see if the storm lets up.” Louis suggested.

“Check out some buildings quick and be in and out before the walkers even notice us.”

“Where will we go after?” Willy asked softly, uncertainty in his tone.

“When can we go home.”

_Can we ever?_

Images of the ranch came to mind. Voices of the people around her became drowned out by the distant screams of her memories. 

**The blood.**

**The fire.**

**The bodies falling around her.**

The weight of the little boy in her arms before her balance was ripped out from under her as a bullet ripped through her leg.

The day her life and freedom were left in the ashes of the place she called home and replaced with the brutal hell that almost stole what remained of her humanity.

_So much blood._

_I’m covered in it._

Was this the beginning of history repeating itself? Losing her home once again just to be captured and forced into a war. Clementine suddenly felt far away from the current situation lost in the visions of what may end up being a premonition. 

**A gun pointed.**

**Innocent people screaming.**

**A bullet.**

**And her behind the trigger.**

_Never again…_

_Never…_

_I cant…_

_I’d die before I went back._

_She won’t take me again._

“Clem?” A comforting presence appeared at her right.

“Are you alright?”

Clementine opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them. Louis took her hand with a worried expression in his eyes. She wanted to respond but couldn’t force any coherent sounds from her dried throat. Pain shot up her left leg as she took a step, what remained of it begged to be released from the prosthetic as each step sent an ache down to her bone.

“Let’s get some sleep.” She mumbled out almost slurred before limping to one of the cots and nearly collapsing.

Clementine didn’t have to move to remove it, which was good, because she didn’t have the energy to. Her eyes fell shut as she pushed a deep breath from her lungs.

Louis carefully undid the straps from her thigh and gently removed the wooden leg attachment. She felt his fingers softly graze the crisscrossed scars across her stump, the skin an angry red colour and sensitive.

Louis and Ruby mumbled at the end of her bed something she couldn't comprehend as mental and physical exhaustion overcame her.

The weight of the cot shifted as someone sat down next to her. Louis’ warm hand brushed through her cold, wet curls as he hummed that song we wrote for her the night before the Delta attacked.

Normally, the song meant safety and warmth and love.

But now it brought her a creeping feeling of impending doom.


End file.
